Abstract
This essay provides an outline of what language planning involves - a deliberate attempt to modify and change the linguistic behavior of a society. It looks at the reasons behind it and the organizations and groups involved in it. It then proceeds to illustrate the discussion using cases from Finland and Norway.

From the Paper
"The reasons behind language planning are complex and plentiful, ranging from large-scale modifications to more modest issues. It can be used to provide solutions to complex social problems, to develop national and official languages, and to standardise particular dialects. Language planners can make linguistic modifications so that subgroups of a particular population speaking different varieties of that language are united as a nation. As technology advances, language can be modified in order to address these developments. The reformation of spelling systems, lexical modernisation, and stylistic simplification are examples of language planning. More modest decisions such as which languages are to be used on signposts or which are to be used for educational purposes also involve deliberate modification. However, linguists and others involved in language planning are not always faced with the task of changing a language. There are circumstances in which the revival or preservation of a language involves deliberate attempts to prevent changes from occurring."

Tags:finland, norway, sami

Abstract
This paper discusses two foreign sources which have had an influence upon changes in the English language. Firstly, it examines the influences of the Scandinavian language family, from the time of Donsk Tunga and the 9th century Viking invasions of the British Isles. Secondly, the paper discusses Latin influences on the English language, from the 14th century to the late 20th century. The paper provides examples from each source language and looks at how the source languages in question have influenced British English with regards to dialects, place names, surnames, prefixes and compounds.

From the Paper
"Before proceeding, however, it should be noted that up until the 9th Century, there was one Scandinavian language spoken throughout the countries now known as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. This was called Donsk Tunga (Danish Tongue). The Viking period led to differences between the East Scandinavian dialects, from which Danish and Swedish have evolved, and the West Scandinavian dialects, from which Norwegian and Icelandic have evolved. Today, Danish and Swedish remain extremely similar, and it is quite usual that literate Swedes, Danes (and Norwegians) can understand each others' languages without a great deal of difficulty. Icelandic, however, has diverged further so that it is mutually unintelligible with Swedish, Danish and Norwegian."

Tags:danish, dialect, scandinavian, swedish

Abstract
This paper examines how there are many historical and modern-day factors that can be held responsible for the language divide of Flemish and French in Belgium. It looks at how these include politics and the government, education and employment and even social affairs, and are often based around linguistic disputes. It attempts to show how the country has suffered from wars and has even divided itself into what can be seen as two separate countries purely for the sake of a language choice.

From the Paper
"In the 1830's the Belgian constitution of the time called for neutrality regarding the linguistic education of the country's children. However, this worked to the disadvantage of the Flemish who felt that their children were being taught in the less-well equipped schools, whilst the French attended private schools thus making French the language of public administration and of the refined classes. As a result, Flemish came to be considered the language on suitable for the streets."

Tags:french, flemish, divide

Abstract
This paper discusses gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language. It describes how changes in the social status and roles of women have taken place over the last century, and some linguists believe that it is necessary for these changes to be reflected in language. The paper specifically focuses on the German language and the relationship between language and thought and gender.

From the Paper
"Some linguists and feminist language reformers believe the language to be androcentric, which affects, and not reflects, speakers' attitudes towards women in a negative and biased manner. Androcentricity is evident in German when we consider pronoun use, the suffix -in, and the grammatical gender of nouns. The studies we have looked at (Braun, Friederike, Gottburgsen, Sczesny & Dagmar Stahlberg, Oelkers, and Boroditsky, Schmidt, and Phillips) suggest that this leads speakers to consider the terms referred to by grammatically masculine gender to represent men and masculinity more so than women and femininity. Thus it can be argued that women are excluded by certain elements of language, when in fact this is not true when we consider their role in society and the disparity between this and the way they are represented in language. Taking all of this into consideration, it is fair to say that feminist language reformers are not misguided in assuming a causal relationship between language and thought, but to what extent this can be altered or eradicated is another issue."

Tags:phraseology, grammar, prefix, suffix

Abstract
This paper explains that Anglicisms in the German language, which are words and other lexical items borrowed from English and assimilated into another language, dates back to the 5th century, when German settlers arrived in Britain. However, the use of Anglicism in the German language has expanded greatly in the last century with the introduction of new concepts and inventions. The paper specifically describes loanwords, loanblends and loanshifts, which are types of Anglicisms, and reviews the application of these Anglicisms into German in various fields. The paper also assesses the validity of several theories for this lexical borrowing.

From the Paper
"A loanblend is a partial substitution to create a hybrid word or phrase consisting of an English loanword and a German word. Examples include Rechenpower, Benimmtrainer, Scwimm-Star, Fein-Scan, Billigjobs, Selfmade-Architekt, and Wow-Effekt. We can see that nouns can be combined with other nouns, adjectives and verbs, and the position of the 'English' word varies as a determinant and determinatum. Phrasal compounds include terms such as Coming-of-age Geschichte, Happy-End-Roman, No-Risk-Garantiene, Small is Beautiful-Prinzip, Morning-After-Pille (which works well as a euphemism by being anglicized)."

Tags:nativization colloquial technical prestige, morphological changes

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts the accounts of German plural marking and theories of child language acquisition. The paper concludes that there is no one uniform theory concerning plural marking, and more broadly, no single theory can fully explain child language acquisition in general without being met by limitations and counter arguments.

From the Paper
"To summarise, whilst we have seen that Clahsen's theory seems to point to elements of behaviourism and nativism and Szagun's theory suggests similarities to connectionism and social interactionism. Both theories are well-founded and backed up by evidence, yet both theories also have their limitations, as we have seen. Although empirical data are provided, the conclusions that both linguists reach by means of this data can be seen as somewhat subjective and debateable. We have seen this to be the case with the overregulisation of the -s plural form - for Clahsen it suggested that the -s suffix was the regular plural form with all other forms being irregular, whereas Szagun claimed that this showed that there was no one regular form and all forms were governed by more and less frequently occurring regulations. Both linguists used similar evidence to reach very different opposing conclusions."

Tags:grammar, nativism, behaviorism, interactionism

Abstract
This paper studies the critical period hypothesis which suggests that languages cannot be learned after the age of twelve. However, an evaluation of evidence from many different sources suggests that this is not accurate. It examines sources such as: Studies of second language learning methods, wild children studies and the theories of Noam Chomsky and Stephen Krashen. Factors which make it easier for children to learn language, such as parentheses, are also discussed.

From the Paper
"The "critical period" hypothesis cites a commonly observable phenomenon, the fact that children find language learning much easier than adults, and learn language remarkably quickly, to claim that language learning is more difficult, or impossible after puberty. The concept of "critical periods" was initially introduced in the study of animal behavior, where it was noticed that certain behavioral responses only emerged when stimulus was given within a particular time frame. This concept has been applied to many species, including humans, with regard to the development of specific emotional responses such as stress. In 1967 Lenneberg proposed that this concept also applied to human linguistic development, seeing language as a response, and exposure to language as the stimulus. There are two versions of this hypothesis: the "strong" version, which claims that no language acquisition is possible after puberty, and the "weak" version, which maintains that language learning will be much more difficult. A distinction is often made between "language acquisition", the way in which children unconsciously learn their native tongue, and "language learning" which implies formal instruction, and Lenneberg maintains this distinction himself."

Tags:chomsky, immersion, krashen, language, learning, linguistics, pinker, second, teaching

Abstract
A brief examination of the movie "Pulp Fiction" from the aspect of language and its impact on culture.

From the Paper
"However, the danger and sophistication that are ever-present in the poster can only really be appreciated when related to the third myth, that of 'cool'. Danger in itself is not a myth, it is a definite fact of life that, in real-life, is taken seriously as a truth. But when the danger is removed from the individual then the cool aspect of danger can be perceived as a myth. Ultimately we know that smoking is bad for one's health, but when one is separated from it, the act becomes cool, we also know guns are extremely dangerous yet again once we can take that step away and they are no immediate threat to us, they can be perceived as cool. This removal that is necessary in order to establish the element of cool is achieved in an interesting way in the poster. Rather than being just a poster, the edges have been made to look worn and there are stylized wrinkles in the paper. The purpose of this is to enhance the illusion of this image that makes up the poster as being the cover of a 'trash novel'. We realize that in actual fact these images that we have been examining are being portrayed by the film company as fiction. "

Tags:cool, dogs, reservoir, movies, myth, james, dean

Abstract
This paper focuses on how the English tongue was derived from Germanic by examining the similarities between the structure and vocabulary of Old and Middle English and German. It looks at how Anglo-Saxon was an inflected language with a structure that is still retained by modern German speakers, coupled with word gender, past participle formation and the process of compounding. It explores through a literature review of works such as "Beowulf" and the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Seafarer" how the English that we speak today essentially evolved under the influence of many languages and how the Germanic tongue was perhaps one of the most instrumental in its formation.

From the Paper
"On perusal of an Anglo-Saxon text such as Beowulf it would seem that the modern English translation uses far more words. The Germanic influence on Old English meant that it was a synthetic language structured on the inflection of nouns and adjectives for four cases in the singular and four in the plural. Through the inflection of Old English one could distinguish the job a word did in a sentence by its ending, regardless of its position. For example, the difference between the Modern English sentences, (i) the woman saw the man, and (ii) the man saw the woman is a matter of word order."

Tags:beowulf, seafarer, anglo, saxon

Abstract
This paper provides a detailed evaluation of Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar and innate Language Acquisition Device, which is central to the field of linguistics and psycholinguistics. It reviews the controversies surrounding Chomsky's theory and discusses alternative theories.

From the Paper
"Language acquisition is undeniably biologically programmed as children all over the world, from varying cultures and linguistic environments produce the same levels of language at the same stages. Chomsky proposes that this is a direct result of Universal Grammar, which is an inherent part of every human mind. However, his theory of an innate Language Acquisition Device provokes controversy on two grounds. First is the debate between nature and nurture, with many theorists criticizing Chomsky for dismissing any environmental factors. Second, is the dispute as to whether language acquisition is an independent innate faculty as Chomsky claims, or part of the child's wider cognitive development. Such disagreements demonstrate the enormous impact Chomsky's theory has had on the field of linguistics and reflects how "the Universal Grammar theory is for many the central pillar in our understanding of language." (Cook, V. Inside Language. Arnold. 1997, p249)"

Tags:acquisition, behaviorism, chomsky, development, grammar, lad, language, linguistics, nativist, psycholinguistics, universal